Pregnant Mother, Child Killed in North Philly House Fire
City workers board up the scene of a fatal fire Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, in Philadelphia. | AP Photo/Matt Rourke
A mother and her child were killed in a house fire in North Philadelphia after she rushed back in to save the child, Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said. NBC10 reported the mother was pregnant.
Fire crews were first called to the 2800 block of North Fourth Street, in North Philly’s Fairhill section, at about 3:45 this morning. The blaze was under control just before 5:00 a.m. Six were treated at the scene for injuries related to the fire, including four children.
The blaze appears to have been an indirect result of the cold weather this week, and could be related to a lack of access to heat in the home. Five space heaters were set up in the house, according to Sawyer, and he suspects one of them sparked the fire.
https://twitter.com/pfdcommish/status/685473438459367424
The woman actually got out of the house at first, but ran back in an attempt to save her child.
It had been 92 days since the most recent fire death in Philadelphia. The city had just 12 fire deaths in 2015, the lowest total since the city started keeping fire fatality statistics in 1952.
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